According to The Athletic’s James Boyd, the Colts have placed tight end Jelani Woods on injured reserve and will not designate him for return.
This will practically terminate his season before it has even begun.
Woods recently underwent toe surgery, which will apparently keep him out for about four months. Although he will be out for the majority of the season, he could return under the new IR rules if the Colts used one of their two return designations.
However, according to Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star, those Colts designations will be utilized on Samson Ebukam and Cameron McGrone.
According to NFL rules, players who are placed on IR (without the new return designation) before being added to the 53-man roster are not eligible to return to the team at any time during the season.
This bad news comes after Woods was forced to miss the entire 2023 season due to hamstring issues. He has not played a regular-season game since 2022.
Woods’ outstanding mix of height and speed at the tight end position made him a potential passing threat, particularly across the middle in Shane Steichen’s RPO-heavy attack
However, even before the injury, Woods’ status on the 53-man roster was uncertain due to an inconsistent training camp performance before suffering a toe injury in the second preseason game against Arizona.
The 2025 season will be the end of Woods’ rookie contract with the Colts.
